Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Master of Education (MEd)

First Supervisor/Advisor

Samuel Andema

Second Supervisor/Advisor

Nipael Mrutu

Department

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

Abstract

This qualitative case study interrogated the use of digital technologies in Tera CPTC (pseudonym) in Northwestern Uganda under three research questions, namely: (1) What are the digital technologies teacher educators use to improve ECTE at Tera (pseudonym) CPTC? (2) How do teacher educators use digital technologies to improve Early Childhood Teacher Education? (3) What challenges do the ECE teacher educators face with the use of digital technologies to improve teaching and learning at Tera CPTC? Data was collected using classroom observation, focus group discussion, and semi-structured interviews. Three tutors and twenty-four teacher trainees participated in the study. Study findings revealed that teacher educators used digital technologies such as google classroom, smartphones, Mentimeter, YouTube and WhatsApp to; enhance students’ online collaboration, extend learning boundaries, record students’ portfolios, and conduct reflections and continuous assessments. It was further revealed that the use of digital technologies in the CPTC was being undermined by challenges like insufficient digital literacy skills, poor internet infrastructure, unreliable devices, and software, including non-technology compatible curriculum, tutors’ resistance to change, and lack of special needs assistive technology devices. The study concludes that tutors at Tera CPTC use a range of digital technologies in multiple ways including continuous assessment, sharing learning materials and self-directed learning to extend learning beyond the institution’s boundaries, nonetheless, their efforts to use digital technology to support teaching are being constrained by many factors like access and irrelevant online materials to the Ugandan context which must be addressed if the transformative potential of digital technology is to be realized at Tera CPTC.

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